County reviews 911 AI pilot, radio encryption upgrades and damaged mobile command trailer amid rising calls for service

Newaygo County officials updated commissioners on emergency communications, corrections trends and the county's mobile command capability during department reports.

Under Sheriff Chad Palmer told the board the sheriff's office handled 16,944 calls for service in 2024 and reported 2,281 individuals lodged in the correctional facility in February 2024. Palmer said calls for service have trended upward over five years while bookings have declined, a pattern he attributed in part to bail-reform changes that limit arrests for certain low-level offenses.

The county's central dispatch reported handling "over 50,000 CAD entries and over 67,000 phone interactions" in 2024 and described a busiest day with roughly 115 9-1-1 calls and nearly 400 total calls when administrative contacts were included. The dispatch director told commissioners the office has implemented an AI program in another jurisdiction that handles nonemergency calls: the AI populates a call-for-service record in the CAD so a dispatcher does not have to take the nonemergency call live.

"They'd never speak to a dispatcher on a non emergency call," the dispatch director said, describing the vendor model discussed by another county. The director and commissioners discussed public concerns about replacing live contact on some nonemergency lines and said the vendor model is not intended to eliminate positions but to let dispatchers focus on 9-1-1 calls.

County staff also reported the phone upgrade equipment has shipped and is expected to arrive in coming weeks, with a likely implementation in spring. The county is preparing for a transition period during which dispatch consoles will be able to monitor both old and new talk groups.

Abby, the county's emergency-management staff member, told the board she had been reappointed to the Michigan Citizens Emergency Coordinating Council and said the county secured new encrypted radio talk-group templates through the MPSCS radio programming unit. She said the initial encryption level implemented is the state's base level and that the Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) guidance will likely require a higher encryption level in the future; officials said the added encryption costs about $450 per radio when purchased.

Palmer and emergency-management staff described damage to an older 2004 FEMA trailer the county uses as a mobile command/post. The trailer, acquired as surplus and refurbished with homeland-security funds, requires a heavy towing vehicle and is not easily moved for short incidents. Officials said the county will evaluate options including leasing or purchasing a new mobile command vehicle that would be easier to deploy and better suited for extended operations.

Commissioners and staff discussed using a smaller, lighter trailer for routine incidents while reserving any larger, permanent mobile command vehicle for extended or preplanned operations. The under sheriff said the county recently assisted Kent County with a search-warrant operation where outside agencies provided a van-based drone command setup the county found useful; commissioners discussed the operational benefits of a more mobile solution.

No formal action was taken; staff said they will return with condition assessments and budget options for a replacement or purchase.